


The Cure

by haleyc510



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, High School AU, no powers au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-11-05 07:35:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11008887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haleyc510/pseuds/haleyc510
Summary: Kara, Lena, and the rest of the super friends all go to National City High School. Kara and Lena are partners in their forensics class and their friendship grows quickly, despite what everyone says about Lena. However, the two soon realize that staying JUST friends might be harder than they anticipated.





	1. August

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote each chapter with a specific song in mind which is kinda lame but it helps me stick to the tone, so the song for chapter 1 was Enchanted by Taylor Swift and the like i picked for the chapter is, “Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancies, vanished when I saw your face.”

“Danvers, Luthor, lab station 6!” Kara’s heart dropped into her stomach. She was lab partners with Lena Luthor. To be fair, she’d never spoken to Lena outright, but everybody knew who her brother was.

Lex had effectively blown himself to pieces along with an entire wing of the Luthor Children’s Hospital. Rumors about why he did it were everywhere and everyone had something to say about it.

Lena sighed and set her bag down on the cool top of the lab table. Kara was sitting on her stool frozen, staring at Lena. Lena pulled out a pen and began scribbling down the dates on the board. When she finished, she slowly looked back up to Kara, who still had her gaze fixed on Lena.

“You see something interesting?”

Kara felt her mouth go dry and was struck with the feeling that this is what deer in the headlights of a speeding car felt like. She glanced down quickly to the pen that Lena had grasped in her hand.

“That’s a nice pen.”

Lena took in the pen she was holding between her fingers, “I suppose it is, they’re my favorite.”

Kara smiled at that, though she didn’t really know why. Finding out small things about Lena Luthor was a strange feeling. She didn’t know what to say after that, so she said the first thing that came to mind.

“It’s blue.”

“Observant.”

Kara blushed and bowed her head sheepishly. Kara didn't think she was being cold on purpose, she just wasn’t a very conversational person apparently.

“I read an article in year seven that said when you write in blue ink it helps you remember things better.”

Kara furrowed her brow at that, “Is that real?”

“I don’t think it’s real science, but it’s certainly a psychological thing.” Lena pulled a textbook from the shelf next to their lab table and flipped it open to the chapter they were on, “I find that when I take notes in black pen that it’s harder for me to temember them.”

“That’s- that’s really interesting actually.”

“Get your book out, I want to finish this sheet before lunch.”

And with that their conversation ended as quickly as it started. The two filled in their worksheets and briefly checked their answers with one another until the bell rang for lunch.

Lena was pulling her bag over her shoulder and walking towards the door when Kara stopped her,

“Hey, are you sitting with anybody at lunch today?”

Lena laughed.

She laughed.

Kara stood with a blank look on her face before Lena’s laughter died out,

“Oh, you were serious. Um, no, I don’t sit with people at lunch. I normally just go to the compsci lab and code.”

“Well, you should come sit with me and my friends. James is a sweet guy and Lucy can be kind of loud but Alex usually keeps her under control.”

“Lucy Lane?”

Kara nodded, her ponytail bobbing from side to side, Lena noted.

“The one and only.”

“I think I’ll pass. I’m sure your friends are great friends but I promise you I’m not welcome around anyone related to General Lane.”

Lena seemed closed off at the mention of the Lanes. Kara decided to remember that in the future.

“I doubt it would be as bad as you think, but I’ll let you get off this time.” Lena started to turn away but Kara followed her.

“What are you doing, the cafeteria is the other direction.”

“I figured I’d walk my new forensics partner to the compsci lab where she spends her lunches sulking away at a computer coding herself to death.”

Lena rolled her eyes and laughed dryly. Kara was funny. And Kara was pretty. She'd known Kara for an hour but she was kind, and genuine, and all sorts of wonderful, and it scared Lena to death.

“I think I can make it on my own, I’ve been doing it two years now, a third won’t kill me.”

“Do you want to go alone?”

“Maybe I can spare company just this once.”

Kara bumped into her and made Lena almost lose her balance walking down the hallway. She had a large grin plastered across her face and Lena couldn’t help but smile back.

-•~•-

“What’s got you so smiley, Kara?”

James smiled at Kara and Kara stumbled over her words. “Oh nothing, forensics was just cool today.”

Kara grinned again thinking about tomorrow and how she would get an entire hour to talk to Lena. She quickly realized how big she was smiling and she hid her face in her bag to dig for her lunch.

Lucy spoke up, “I think you’re lying. Who is it that’s got you blushing like a middle schooler, huh?”

“Just someone in my forensics class. I got a partner I didn’t expect and they’re surprisingly… interesting.”

“You won’t even tell us if they’re a guy or a girl? C’mon Kara don’t make me play detective here because Maggie and I will find out who your forensics partner is.”

“I’ll tell you it’s a she and that’s all. I will also request that you respect my privacy but that hasn’t ever stopped you before.” Kara sighed, “Don’t get to excited about me dating anybody either. I’ve got to make it to nationals this year and win if I want to beef up my applications, so I don’t have any time to even think about dating.”

“You’ve come in fifth and third the past two years, I’m sure you’ll do just fine. Besides, Mrs. Madison loves you and I know she’ll help you out all she can.”

Alex gave her a reassuring smile but then Kara dropped her head onto the table suddenly,

“Jeez, I didn’t even think! Who is my partner going to be! Clark graduated last year and now I’m all alone!”

James grinned, “Well, I mean you could ask mystery woman who is your partner in advanced forensics to be your partner at the competition.”

Kara thought for a moment, then dismissed the thought, “She’s really busy with BPA, I’m pretty sure she competes in like two events and she also mentioned trying to run for officer.” Kara took a large bite of her sandwich before continuing, “She also had a copy of Hamlet which they’re reading in AP Lit right now and she had a Calc II book with her too. I have no clue how she does any of it, I’d be overwhelmed.”

“Shut up, Kara, you are like the smartest person I know.” Lucy kicked Kara under the table, “You’re gonna graduate with eight science credits, you’re the president of the National City HOSA chapter, and you’re gonna have three top five finishes at HOSA nationals. Not to mention you already have offers from Tennessee University, Boston, and UT Austin.”

“I’m taking regular pre-cal because I can’t freaking do math.”

“That doesn’t mean shit and you know it. Math’s hard, but you’re so freakin genius level smart in so many other places that nobody will even care that you don’t know what a unit circle is.”

Kara smiled at the words of encouragement and continued to eat her sandwich before opening up her pack of fruit snacks. James, Lucy, and Alex all continued chatting while Kara added a bit here and there.

She kept an eye on the clock by the back of the cafeteria, seeing it tick closer and closer to 1:10 and knowing that lunch would be over soon. A part of her hoped that Lena would show up, but the other parts all knew that Lena would probably not want to show up in the most crowded part of the school and being put on display like that.

The bell rang just then and Kara realized she would have to wait till tomorrow to see Lena again, but she wasn’t quite sure why that weighed so heavily.

-•~•-

“I hate the chief warrant officer. There. I said it.”

“I know you do, Alex. You say it every week at least four times.”

Alex rolled her eyes and grumbled, “Just because I say it a lot doesn’t make it any less true.”

Kara shrugged, “You’ve got a point.”

“At least Lucy and Maggie are in class with me. I know they hate his shit as much as I do.”

“If you hate it so much why do you stay in ROTC?”

Alex scoffed, “I am nothing unless I hate ROTC, Kara.” Kara rolled her eyes at her sister, “But what about you, huh? Mystery girl in forensics?”

“Yea, shes kinda cool, a bit detached though. I’ve heard about her before but I’ve never gotten a chance to get to know her.”

“It’s Lena Luthor, right?”

Kara froze at their front door, “How did you know that?”

“Because she’s in Calc II with me and Mrs. Kostroun was talking to her about BPA.”

“Oh, well, just try not to tell Lucy and James because they’ll freak out and won’t want me being friends with her.”

Alex opened their front door and dropped her bag on the floor, “Forget James and Lucy, I don’t want you being friends with her!”

“Why not? She hasn’t done anything to you or me. As far as I’m concerned she’s nothing but a dedicated student who had a psycho as an older brother.”

“Luthor’s are bad news, you know that and so do I, Kara.”

Kara was beginning to get upset with Alex, which is something that she hated doing. She knew that Alex was only looking out for her, but sometimes it felt like her sister was trying to coddle her.

“I’m allowed to decide who I want to be friends with Alex, and I don’t need your permission to do so.”

“She is going to hurt you, Kara!”

“You don’t even know her!”

“Well neither do you!”

Alex and Kara were shouting at each other now and Kara felt exhausted by it. She swallowed her pride and sat down at the kitchen table, pulling out her homework.

“Fine, you’re right. I don’t know her.”

“Kara-”

“No, Alex. I don’t want to fight with you about it. I just really want to do my homework and then go for a long run.”

Alex sat down across from her sister and reached for her hand, Kara let her grab it.

“I’m sorry I got so upset with you, but I hope you see where I’m coming from.” Kara was listening, though she didn’t make eye contact, “Her mother has never been an upstanding business model and her father wasn’t either. We know what happened with her brother.”

“She isn’t her family. People can make lives for themselves outside of the legacy their biology leaves.”

“I know. But Kara, I don’t want you to fall for her and get hurt when you hit the ground.”

“I’m not going to fall for Lena Luthor.” Kara rolled her eyes and Alex laughed at her,

“Even if you don’t, you’re still going to take her in like you always do.” Alex stood up then, making her way to her backpack to retrieve her work as well, “You find people who are lost, or alone, or in need of a friend and you just hold them so closely. I don’t want that to happen with Lena and she ends up hurting you.”

Kara sighed, “I get where you’re coming from, but it’s my choice. I trust Lena because she hasn’t given me any reason otherwise.”

“Okay, Kara.”

-•~•-

The next day Kara nearly skipped into her forensics class. Lena was already sitting at their lab table scribbling away at some paper that was almost covered in ink,

“Watcha doin?”

Lena didn’t even look up, “Minding my own business, how about you?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just saw you sketching and was curious.”

At this Lena met Kara’s eyes. She smiled a bit and then replied, “So if you knew I was sketching, why did you ask what I was doing?”

“Well, I, uh, I was sort of asking what you were sketching because it looks cool, but if you don’t want to elaborate that’s totally cool I get not wanting to talk about everything, privacy is good you know?”

Lena smiled at Kara who felt her blush darken with each passing second,

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Well, yesterday you were hardly literate and now you could probably ramble enough for the both of us.”

“I’m sorry, my sister always tells me I should slow down sometimes so that people can hear what I’m saying.”

Lena shook her head, “No need to slow down, it’s kind of cute.” With that, Lena went back to her work, “Besides, I heard somewhere that if you ramble it’s like having messy handwriting, your brain is going faster than other parts of your body can keep up with and so it’s a sign of intelligence.”

Kara felt her heart speed up and she quickly tried to get busy with the worksheet she’d picked up at the front of the room. At some point Lena had quit working on whatever she had been designing before and began working on the sheet with Kara.

“How am I supposed to know who the director of the damn FBI is?”

Lena had her jaw clenched and seemed frustrated with the sheet. She flipped through the textbook and still couldn’t find the answer.

“It’s James Comey.”

Lena looked up her, and Kara was still working on the paper.

“How did you know that?”

“Chain of command.” Kara shrugged her shoulders,

“Chain of command?”

Kara looked up then and spoke, “Yea, the commander in chief is Barack Obama, VP is Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense is Ashton Carter, Secretary of the Navy is Ray Mabus, Commandant of the Marine Corps is General Neller, so on and so forth.”

Lena was stunned. Kara was still looking at her and Lena was amazed at how beautiful she was.

“Why do you know all of that?”

“Alex, she needed me to help her study when it changed and so it just stuck with me.” Kara smiled back at Lena and then continued, “Besides it’s helpful in times like this, and also jeopardy.”

Kara laughed and Lena let out a laugh as well. Kara’s heart skipped a beat when she heard that beautiful sound. The two fell into a comfortable silence, occasionally asking one another for an answer. They were both deep in their work when the bell rang.

Lena immediately bagged all of her things up and was almost to the door when Kara had to sprint to catch up with her.

“Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Coming to school.”

Kara rolled her eyes, “After school.”

“Probably going home and working on my Rube Goldberg machine.”

“You should come over. We need to finish our timeline and we won’t have enough time to put the prezi together in class but it’s due on Thursday.”

“Thursday at the end of class.” Lena spoke with finality

“I know, but what if she gives us an assignment during class too? I just don’t want to get behind in forensics because I’ve got to study for my test next month and plus anatomy has already assigned a project and my food science teacher is making us create a dish for the student Iron Chef competition. I just want to get it done, you know?”

“I’ll ask if I can, but don’t hold your breath, my host family is fairly strict.” Lena changed the subject, “How many science classes are you taking?”

“Well, I’m in advanced forensics, obviously. I’m also in anatomy and food science, I’m in pre-cal involuntarily, but my two extra classes are gov/eco and microbiology. I traded out an elective last year so I could do double English."

“Why do you hate yourself? Or is it your GPA that you want to suffer?”

Kara laughed and pushed her glasses up, “I just really love science. It’s a field full of people trying to make everything better for those around them.”

“That’s really cool, actually. I’m just going into business because my mother can’t wait for me to take over the company from her.”

“Where do you want to go to school?”

“Personally? MIT. Where my mother wants me to go? Brown, or Rice.” Kara gave her a look, “They’re just about the best business schools in the country, however I want to study mechanical engineering. So to compromise I’m looking at Baylor and double majoring.”

“Do you live with your mother or a host family?”

“I live with Jess Aguilar and her parents. My mother lives back in Metropolis where she runs Luthor Corp, but to get her off my back I moved here in an exchange program.”

“That’s really cool.” Lena gave her a look of confusion, “That you found a way to get her from breathing down your neck. Not that you had to move across the country to get some room to breathe.”

“She definitely didn’t like it but I dug my heels in.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. I think you’re pretty cool person to talk to, not to mention a great forensics partner.”

Lena rolled her eyes, “We’ve only had two days of class.”

Kara smiled at her then, her eyes crinkling up at the edges and Lena felt weak in the knees. “I like to think I’m a good judge of character.”

Lena shrugged as their walk was coming to an end because they were nearing the compsci lab, “I wouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch, Danvers.”

“I wouldn’t sell yourself short, Luthor.” Lena smiled at Kara and she was about to say a quick goodbye when Kara grabbed her hand. “Promise me you’ll ask if you can come over? I know we have to work on the project, but I also kinda want to hang out with you, you know? I think you’re funny, and smart, and I feel like we could be good friends.”

Lena was shocked into silence, too stunned by Kara’s warm hand wrapped around hers to answer.

“Lena?” Lena opened her mouth and closed it several times before Kara squeezed her hand then let go. “I think you’re the illiterate one now.”

“I’m sorry, I just remembered that I need to talk to Mrs. Jones about judging for debate this year. I’ve got to go.”

Lena walked into the classroom and Kara shouted after her, “You’re gonna ask right?”

“I’ll do my best.” Lena gave her a small smile and Kara felt her chest pull again. While she walked to the cafeteria, she tried not to think about the fact that Lena suddenly couldn’t speak when she held her hand.

-•~•-

“You’re crushing on Lena Luthor?”

Kara felt her insides go cold at the accusation that Lucy had just thrown across the table. It then turned to frustration that Alex had obviously told Lucy and most likely Maggie and James about Lena.

“I am not crushing on Lena. She is my partner in forensics and that’s it.”

“That’s fake. You’ve been late to lunch every day this week, and I know that you have forensics fourth period and so you’ve gotta be walking her to a class or some dumb crap like that.” Lucy paused, waiting for Kara to try and defend herself, “People don’t just walk each other to class! You like her!”

Kara shushed Lucy and then hissed across the table, “Will you shut your mouth! I don’t have a crush on Lena and so what if I walk my friend to class, I’m trying to get to know her for pete’s sake.”

“Kara, we aren’t trying to accuse you of-” James tried to calm down his friend but Kara cut him off.

“Well, that’s funny considering I feel very accused right now.”

“I think you’re being a little defensive, frankly.” Lucy raised an eyebrow then continued, “I’m not going to tell you to stay away from her because if you knew that, you would. I’m just going to tell you to watch your back, the Luthors are bad news and Lena is probably no different.”

“Operative word being probably.” Kara rolled her eyes and wrapped her lunch up, “I’m leaving.”

“Wait, Kara.” Alex was standing up and had a hold of Kara’s forearm. “Don’t go, I’m sorry we brought it up. Just sit down and eat lunch, please?”

“I’d like to go to the library, Alex. I just want to be alone right now.”

Feeling her sister sigh, Kara continued to leave the cafeteria. Alex sat back down at the table and gave Lucy a look.

“What did I do?”

“You went a little court marshall on her there, Luce.” James said softly

“Kara’s old enough to make her own choices, and she doesn’t like to be questioned.” Alex seemed upset with herself for making the situation into more than it needed to be, “It’s mostly my fault. I treated her like a child and told her that Lena was bad news and so logically, she’s attempting to become best friends with her.”

“I don’t want Kara getting hurt is all! Maybe some tough love is what she needed.” Lucy spoke, “In case you’ve all forgotten, her mother and father are both staying out of prison by the skin of their noses and her brother blew up a hospital!”

Alex pinched the bridge of her nose and nodded, “Yes, Lucy, we’re all aware of the dazzling reputation the Luthor family has, but so far there’s no reason to lump Lena in with them. I think that’s all Kara’s trying to say.”

-•~•-

“Mrs. Aguilar?”

“Yes, Lena?”

Mrs. Aguilar was a kind woman who was a stay at home mom while her husband worked as a partner at a law firm. She had two children, Jess and Riley, and she was more than happy to host Lena when she moved from Metropolis.

“Um, my partner from forensics asked if I could come over and work on our timeline? Tomorrow after school.”

“What time would you be home?”

“I’m not sure. Probably no later than eight.”

“Would you need a ride?”

“No, Kara drives.”

She wiped her hands on her apron and then moved over to the sink to wash them off, “Then that sounds fine. Be safe, and have fun!”

“Are you sure that I don’t have to stay here and help with something? Or that I have chores?”

“You always do your chores on time, and if you had something to do, I wouldn’t have told you that you could go.” Lena focused harder on her work on the table and Mrs Aguilar, “Do you not want to go over to Kara’s?”

Lena took a deep breath and set down her pen. “It’s not that I don’t want to go necessarily, it’s just that I’m afraid of what will happen if I do.”

Quickly, Mrs. Aguilar sat down next to Lena, “What could happen that’s so bad? Are you worried about your friend? Or worried that you’ll have a fight?”

“It’s the opposite of fighting, really.” Lena mumbled and Mrs. Aguilar finally understood.

“So you like this Kara, is it?” Lena nodded quietly, “Well, I’ll leave it up to you if you want to go.”

The woman gently patted Lena’s arm and then went back to busying herself with whatever work she felt needed to be done.

-•~•-

“So, we know that in the 600’s, Arabic merchants would document people’s fingerprints for bookkeeping purposes, and that in 1248 the first forensics textbook was published by the Chinese.”

“Also, in 1784 John Toms was convicted of a murder because the newspaper from his coat pocket matched the torn piece left at the crime scene from the pistol’s projectile.”

Kara and Lena were trading back and forth data about notable dates in forensic history to add to their list for their timeline. Lena was almost sweating she was trying to find so many facts before class ended. If they finished in class today, there would be no need to go over to Kara’s house after school.

“Hey, no need to rush, there’s still like fifteen minutes left in class.” Kara said with a smile in her voice. The tough crease in Lena’s brow and the way she held her pen between her teeth when she was trying to think of something was probably one of the cutest things she’s ever seen, and it was making it incredibly hard to focus on her own work.

Kara desperately hoped that Lena could come over after school today. Even if they finished the project in class. She’d make up an excuse like she needed tutoring in pre-cal or something. She got the feeling that Lena really didn’t want much to do with her outside of class and that hurt in a way because the last thing she wants to do is make Lena uncomfortable, especially because they have to be lab partners all year.

Kara’s thoughts were interrupted by Lena waving her hand in front of her face.

“You okay there? I think I lost you for a moment.”

Lena looked concerned, but also like she was laughing at Kara. Which is great, because if you can’t make a girl uncomfortable you might as well make her think you’re stupid.

“Oh, me? Yea, I’m fine. Just thinking too hard.” Kara waved her hand and grinned, “Were you saying something? I’m sorry if you were, I should have been listening.”

“I was actually saying that Mrs. Aguilar said that I could come over today. After school, if you still want me, that is.” Lena looked worried about Kara’s answer

“I mean, if you do come over, we’ll probably knock this thing out in like half an hour tops. But we could chill out and try this really cool stove top popcorn I got the other day and watch The X-Files or something, the truth is out there, yanno?”

Lena chuckled at Kara and Lena was beginning to feel her resolve to stay away from Lara thin.

“Sounds riveting.”

“Do you even want to come over?” Kara felt like she’d been dropped in an ice bath. “I just realized I didn’t ever ask if you wanted to come over to my house and now I see that I was kind of being pushy and that I didn’t give you a chance to say no.”

“Truth or lie?” Lena asked after a moment and Kara gave her a confused look, “Do I really want to come over, truth or lie?”

“Um, well, both I guess because I was given the option.”

Lena set down her pen and bit her lower lip while she thought about what to say.

“Well, I’ll lie first. No, I don’t want to come over to your house.” She held her hand up to keep Kara at bay because she seems almost bursting to say something else, “Truth, it’s a lot more complicated than whether or not I want to do something.”

“So, you do want to come over but something is making you not want to?”

“Yes.”

Kara let out a heavy breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding and Lena gave her a funny look. Kara explained,

“I was worried that you didn’t like me and that I was pushing too hard and was making you uncomfortable.”

“It’s not you at all, Kara, if anything you’ve been the kindest and most welcoming person I’ve met. And that’s saying something considering I’ve gone here since sophomore year.”

“Nobody has tried to be friends with you?” Lena shook her head, “Not even a little bit?”

“I mean not really, no. I keep to myself mostly.”

“Well, here,” Kara pulled out her phone and opened it to the dial screen, “Type in your number, I’ll text you so you have mine too. Just send me a message after sixth if you want to, alright? I borrowed Eliza’s car today so we won’t have to walk.”

“That sounds great.”

Lena typed her number in and Kara saved it. They went back to working in silence for a few minutes before Kara asked a question.

“You said something was keeping you from wanting to come over, do you mind if I ask what?”

“You scare me, Kara Danvers.” Lena answered plainly,

“I scare you?” Kara stared back incredulously, practically begging Lena to elaborate

“You’re so confident, and kind, not to mention beautiful-”

“Says you.”

“It’s a dumb reason but I’m worried about getting too close to you and not being able to back out.”

Kara suddenly got the feeling that they weren’t just talking about being friends anymore. Lena was still looking directly into Kara’s eyes and Kara could tell she was worried about her response.

“Why wouldn’t you be able to back out?”

Lena took in a deep breath, “How about I tell you when I know for sure?”

“Okay.”

And just like that, they were back to work.

“1854, San Francisco built the first forensics lab in the US.”

-•~•-

15:37 Lena Luthor: do we have to watch the x files? or can we watch something like the office?

15:38 Kara Danvers: Unacceptable, you are officially uninvited to my house. We are strictly Parks and Rec in the Danvers home.

15:38 Lena Luthor: then i guess i have to reevaluate my priorities. we can watch parks and rec. ive never seen it anyway

15:39 Kara Danvers: YOU’VE NEVER SEEN  
15:39 Kara Danvers: OH GOD  
15:39 Kara Danvers: HOW ARE YOU EVEN ALIVE  
15:40 Kara Danvers: You watch the dumb show about a paper plant but not the most heartfelt and genuine story about growth and learning to find your place in the world and that love is all around you if you just let yourself find it  
15:40 Kara Danvers: Also, that was the bell and I’m assuming that you decided to come over so just meet me by the stairs at the end of the math hallway. But we aren’t done having this talk.

15:41 Lena Luthor: understood

-•~•-

“You can just set your stuff down in the kitchen, I’m going to grab my laptop.” Kara moved down the hall and Lena stood awkwardly waiting for her to get back.

Lena turned around in the area off the kitchen, looking at the photos on the wall. There was many of a mother and father and a smaller girl with dark brown hair. As the girl grew older, suddenly she saw Kara appear in the pictures. She had bangs and glasses that rested on the edge of her nose because they seemed too big for her face.

Lena smiled at the goofy grin that she still sees Kara smile today and at how her eyes have always been so so blue.

Suddenly, Lena jumped what felt like three feet in the air,

“Gotcha!” Kara had poked her sides with the tips of her fingers and Lena felt her heart racing out of her chest.

She pressed her hand against her chest to try to calm herself down. Kara moved to look Lena head on and she was fighting laughter at the sight of Lena still recovering.

“I really got ya didn’t I?”

“You really did.”

“C’mon let’s get this crap done.”

Lena and Kara sat across from each other at the kitchen table and started working diligently on the timeline project.

A good half hour had passed and they were almost finished when the front door opened and Kara heard Alex shout from the entryway,

“Hey Kara, you home? I saw mom’s car in the driveway. Though I don’t know why you felt the need to drive to school today when we could have walked together like we always d-”

Alex had rounded the corner into the dining room and saw Kara hunched around the same computer screen as Lena Luthor. She stopped dead.

“What is she doing here?” Kara could hear the coldness in her tone

“We’re working on a project together, you know, like you have to do when you have an assignment.” Kara said without pulling away from her work

“I know that, but why is she in our house?”

“Because she’s my friend and I wasn’t going to invite myself over to someone else’s house when ours functions perfectly fine.”

“Whatever.”

Alex began digging in the fridge for a bottle of water and Kara slammed her laptop shut,

“Yknow, I think Lena and I will just move into my room since it bothers you so much, Alex.” Kara picked up her bag and then motioned to Lena to begin walking, “It’s just right through the hall and to the right.” She spoke quietly

“I told you how I felt about her.”

“And I told you how I felt. And how I feel about you treating her like a criminal when she has done absolutely nothing to deserve it.”

With that, Kara turned and went to her bedroom, where she found Lena sitting on the edge of her bed. Kara could see that she had heard what she and Alex had been saying in the kitchen.

Quickly, Kara sat down in her desk chair and scooted next to Lena. She held her hands out and Lena slowly took them,

“I’m sorry you had to hear that. It’s not fair of people to treat you like that and to speak about you like you aren’t in the room.”

Lena shook her head, “It’s okay, I’m used to it.”

Kara tightened her grip on Lena’s hands, and told her sternly, “No, that’s not okay. Don’t get used to that, and don’t let people do it because you deserve more than that.”

“It happens all the time, and if you don’t react and continue to do your best then eventually people get tired of saying it.”

“Quit that, quit acting like you should have to take people’s crap all the time because it’s not true. You should believe in yourself and know that I’ll be here to protect you,” Kara said, and Lena looked up and met Kara’s eyes, “I mean, not that you need my protection, but like, what are friends for, right?”

“Thank you, Kara, but you don’t have to stand up for me like that, especially because I know how you hate fighting with Alex.”

“But I will, every time.”

Those bright blue eyes were staring directly into Lena’s and Lena felt her eyes drop to Kara’s lips. She felt nervousness begin to bubble in her stomach and she saw Kara’s eyes dart down and then back up quickly.

Lena was leaning in and Kara wasn’t stopping her and that was scarier than anything.

Kara moved forward and captured Lena’s lips sweetly, and one of her hands left Lena’s and moved to tangle in the hair at the back of Lena’s neck. She felt Lena lean into her and grip her shirt tightly in a fist. Kara kissed her harder and then she felt Lena bite down on her bottom lip.

Kara scooted to the edge of her desk chair to get closer to Lena, but as soon as the kiss had started, Lena pulled away.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

Taking in a deep breath, Kara replied, “I mean, we both did it, it’s fine.” Blinking rapidly a few times, she regained her bearings, “No harm done.”

Lena looked like she was about to run away and Kara tapped her foot against Lena’s and scooted her chair back to the desk against the wall,

“How about we get back to this?”

“That sounds like a great idea.” Lena swallowed hard and then she moved to stand next to Kara, leaving as much room as possible between them.


	2. September Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhh, Lena and Kara get closer I guess, and they talk to people about their feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote mosta this a while ago, I dont remember a lot of it tbqh. I didn't reread this before posting cuz I'm irresponsible but I got tired of forcing myself to write more than I wanted to and so I'm just gonna post the months in different parts. 
> 
> Sept. Pt. 1 song, Green Light- “'Cause honey I'll come get my things, but I can't let go I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it”

It was Monday on the next week and Lena had bitten all of her fingernails down to the quick. It was an awful habit that she has tried to kick so many times, but it resurfaces sometimes when she’s particularly anxious. Like right now, waiting for Kara to walk into class. 

When she finally did, she shook hands with Mrs. Gorham at the door and said something funny that made the teacher laugh. 

Why was she such a ball of sunshine. It made talking about anything remotely serious nearly impossible.

“Hey, happy Monday, right?” Kara sat on her stool and promptly began working on the warm up on the TV.

“Yea, sure. Happy Monday.”

“You alright?” Lena furrowed her brow ad Kara stopped her before she could say anything, “That’s a no. What’s got you so on edge?”

Truth be told it was a lot of things that were putting Lena off on this particular Monday, however it boiled down to Kara and her had kissed last week and then not a single word had been said since. Kara didn’t even text her over the weekend. 

The radio silence on the whole kissing situation was comforting and terrifying. Because if she and Kara didn’t talk about it, then they could pretend that it didn’t happen. But if she and Lara didn’t talk about it, nothing like that would happen again.

And Lena couldn’t kid herself and say she didn’t want it to happen again. Kissing Kara was one of the best things that had happened to her in a very long time and the idea of not getting to do it again was, frankly, unacceptable. 

“Are we going to talk about it?”

Lena swallowed, her stomach dropping low. Kara didn’t respond right away.

“Talk about what?”

“The kissing thing, Kara.”

Her voice was low and she rolled her eyes at the look of realization that crossed Kara’s face.

“Oh, I mean, we can. Talk about it. If you want.”

“Don’t you want to talk about it?”

Kara shrugged her shoulders, “You said that you shouldn’t have done it after you did. I read that as you not wanting to talk about it.”

“I kind of meant that I shouldn’t have kissed you then, not at all.”

“So you do want to kiss me?” Kara’s lips turned up at the edges and she looked hopeful

“God, yes.” Lena breathed out heavily, “I loved kissing you.”

“Me too.” Kara furrowed her brow, “I loved kissing you too, not that I loved kissing me that wouldn’t make any sense.” 

Lena sat there with a smile on her face and waiting for Kara to finish, “I knew what you meant.”

“Oh, okay, great!” A silence fell upon them briefly, then Kara continued, “Okay now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I want to make myself clear. I enjoy being your friend and hanging out with you and especially the kissing, but I don’t know anything about you really. So, before this thing gets away from us, I think we should focus on being friends first?”

“I can respect that Danvers, but if you keep chewing on your bottom lip like that I may have to just go for it.”

Kara rolled her eyes, “I want to know your favorite color before I have your tongue in my mouth, Lena.”

Raising an eyebrow, Lena replied, “Well, my favorite color is navy blue, and whenever you want to do that second part, you have my number.”

Blushing furiously, Kara returned to her work with vigor and ignored the look she knew Lena was sending her way.

-~•~-

“Sawyer, what do you know about Lena Luthor?”

Without looking up from her drill card, Maggie responded, “Well, she’s a Luthor. But other than that I don’t really know anything. She was on the announcements a lot last year for her BPA thing.”

“So if Kara wants to be all buddy-buddy with her, should I be worried? Do you think?”

Maggie sighed and met Alex’s gaze, “I think that if Kara wants to make a friend then she’s allowed to do so. She’s seventeen, Alex, not seven. You’re only a few month older than her, and you definitely aren’t her mom.”

Alex sighed, “I hate that you’re right.”

“Well, enlisted usually are, but officers get all the glory anyway.”

“Take that back!” Alex snatched the paper from Maggie’s hands and then held it above her head, “Why are you killing yourself over this card anyway? It’s just Gotham’s drill meet, we do it every year.”

“It’s my first year commanding so I don’t wanna screw it up like some lieutenant I know did last year.”

“You’d better watch yourself, I’m still your direct reporting officer-”

“Danvers! Sawyer!”

Maggie rolled her eyes, “Great, you’ve done it now.”

“You’re the one with the smart mouth.”

The two girls walked back into the office area of the ROTC room and stood awkwardly at the doorway to the chief warrant officer’s office. 

“Why can I hear two of my most experienced and high ranking cadets arguing with each other like children when the rest of the class, who are primarily freshman and sophomores, are able to sit silently and do their work?”

The man sat back in his office chair, and he crossed his arms across his chest. The two tags across his chest pockets read “US Marines” on one, and “Henshaw” on the other.

Alex and Maggie stood silently, “Well? I’m not talking to myself, am I?”

Both girls could tell he was angry at them, and rightfully so, but explaining the issue would equate to admitting the other was right.

“If you won’t talk voluntarily, I’m sure we can head down to the gym and do pushups until we want to.”

“It was my fault, sir. I took the drill card from cadet Sawyer and made fun of her for studying it so hard. It all just escalated from there.”

“Very well, you may go. Sawyer? Stay.”

Maggie felt her insides run cold, “Me?”

He nodded, “Sit down, shut the hatch.”

When Maggie sat down, Henshaw turned his chair to look at her squarely, “It’s the second week of school, Maggie. You cannot be picking fights with the officers already.”

“You heard her, sir, she started it!”

“I heard the whole fight too, and making fun of another cadet’s performance at a drill meet is pretty disrespectful, especially considering she outranks you by four ranks.

“You’re my color sergeant, which means you’re in charge of unarmed drill and all of the color guards that we do. You load and unload gear for all of this, you recruit team members, you train new drill team members and you’re also responsible for the discipline of the cadets in this class. You’re very vital to this company running like a finely tuned machine and there’s no reason to insult other cadets, especially your superiors.”

Maggie listened quietly, nodding every once in awhile. Henshaw levelled his gaze at Maggie and then he asked her, “Do you understand? I don’t want you to distance yourself from what could be a supportive group of friends.”

“Yes sir, I understand.”

“Then get out of my office and go study that drill card.”

When Maggie exited the office, she was met with a raised eyebrow from Alex. Maggie shrugged and then sat back down at her desk. 

Alex rolled the desk chair over to Maggie’s desk and wrote on the corner of her paper,

‘You okay?’

Maggie rolled her eyes, “You can talk to me, you know?”

“That’s what got us in trouble in the first place.”

“No, your authority feeling threatened by a sergeant is what got us in trouble. You know your position and everyone here respects it, give me a chance to earn that.”

Alex nodded, “I can do that.” Maggie smiled at her and then Alex spoke up again, “I’m still going to have to teach you how to countermarch because your attempts are probably the nastiest things I’ve ever had to see.”

“I’m sorry for being such a failure, Danvers, please enlighten me, oh great one.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

The bell rang soon after that and once class was dismissed, Alex found herself in the multi purpose room teaching Maggie the different countermarch variations that they use.

-~•~-

“Tell me why the world hates me.”

“Because you’re a Luthor and your family screwed up everything for you. Like, literally no matter how much good you do or how hard you work, people will really only see your last name.”

Lena’s jaw dropped and Winn bit the inside of his cheeks, “Maybe that was too much?”

“No, it’s fair. But I meant why am I crushing over someone that I absolutely should not and why do they return my feelings.”

“So, you like someone, and they like you back, and this is a bad thing?”

“When she’s literally the perfect embodiment of sunshine and also one of the crazy smartest people I’ve ever met, and she just makes everything seem so wonderful.”

Winn swivelled around in his chair, “What, do you like Kara Danvers or something?”

Lena stayed silent, adjusting the machine on her computer screen. Winn asked her again,

“Lena?” 

“Yes?”

“Oh my God, you like Kara?”

Lena turned around quickly and kicked Winn in the shin,

“Shut your mouth right now.”

“Am I right?”

“Nobody can know. Literally no one.” Lena said quickly and then went back to her work,

“Why not? I mean, you like her and she likes you and you guys would be so cute together, like two of my good friends getting together! It’d be great!”

“Please drop it. Nothing can happen between Kara and I.”

Winn shrugged and turned back to his monitor, knowing when to leave well enough alone.

-~•~-

“Where’s Alex and Kara?”

“Do you really want to know?” Lucy answered and gave James a look

“I asked, didn’t I?”

“Alex is currently falling in love with Maggie Sawyer and Kara is in the library helping Mrs. Etheridge sort through books.”

“That’s… oddly specific.”

Lucy laughed, “I’m only paraphrasing from the text messages they sent me.” She ran her hands over James’ shoulders, brushing off some lint, “Don’t you have some photos to edit for the art show?”

“Yea, but we can’t leave the cafeteria now.”

“We absolutely can, I’ll just say we’re on ROTC business, they never question it.”

James shook his head, but followed where Lucy was pulling his hand, “You are such a bad influence.”

“Yea, but you love it.” She grinned, “And me.”

“You keep saying that, but sometimes I’m not so sure.”

“Shut up!” James laughed and followed after Lucy towards the photography lab

-~•~-

Lena Luthor 12:38: your hair looks amazing from behind

Kara Danvers 12:40: That’s really creepy.  
Kara Danvers 12:41: Also, why do you say this now? I thought you became a computer lab hermit during lunch.

Lena Luthor 12:43: winn was being,, insufferable, so i dipped out  
Lena Luthor 12:43: besides, i heard the library got a cute new assistant and i wanted to verify the rumor for myself

Kara Danvers 12:44: !!!!!!!!!  
Kara Danvers 12:45: You know Winn!!  
Kara Danvers 12:45: He’s like my brother, I love him!! We don’t have any classes together this year and it makes me sad :(

Lena Luthor 12:46: are we on emoticon level?

Kara Danvers 12:47: Well, you promised me a second part to learning your favorite color and there’s tons of shelves in here that could hide us pretty well

Lena Luthor 12:50: what happened to friends?

Kara Danvers 12:51: Your skinny jeans, tbh

Lena Luthor 12:51: lead the way

Lena saw Kara disappear around the corner and she quickly followed. She found her a moment later sorting through books on hydroponic greenhouses.

Lena looped her fingers through Kara’s back belt loops and she felt the taller girl lean back into her. This caused her to grin and she spoke quietly,

“So, when you aren’t studying about the decomposition of human bodies, you’re reading about growing lettuce in a swimming pool?”

“It’s a completely sustainable and virtually self sufficient system of agriculture, don’t even try to attack hydroponics because you will lose.”

“I didn’t realize you were so passionate about lettuce swimming pools.”

“I’m passionate about a lot of things, all you have to do is ask.”

Lena turned Kara around then and pushed her back against the bookshelf. Pressing her body against Kara’s, she trailed her fingers up Kara’s torso and across her shoulders.

“Where’s your favorite place to eat?”

“Chopsticks. Chicken and broccoli with steamed rice and an egg roll instead of a spring roll.”

Kara leaned in and kissed Lena soundly. She held the back of her neck and deepened the kiss when she felt Lena’s hands grip her shirt around the collar. Lena groaned when she felt Kara’s tongue brush her bottom lip. 

Suddenly, Lena felt nothing against her lips, and when her eyelids fluttered open she was met with the sight of Kara smirking at her. She felt warm hands drift from her neck to her waist and they pulled her close. 

“What’s your favorite book?”

“The Giver.” Kara smiled and stayed quiet, silently asking for Lena to tell her why, “It was obviously a dystopian society, however the notion that your entire future was decided solely upon your own personality was invaluable. Young Lena Luthor loved thinking that one day she could make her own destiny.”

“What about this Lena Luthor?”

“Learning that you can be who you are despite what path has been set before you.”

Kara rolled her eyes and pressed a kiss to the corner of Lena’s lips. 

“That’s really meaningful, and I wish I could stay longer, but Mrs. Etheridge is gonna be looking for me soon.”

Lena nodded and stepped back, holding onto one of Kara’s hand. “What about your favorite book?”

“How about I tell you on Wednesday? At my house?”

“You drive a hard bargain, Danvers.” Lena squeezed her hand and then nodded, “But I think I can make that happen.”

Kara grinned, glancing down at their joined hands, “Ok, I’ll text you later.”

-~.~-

Kara was completely smitten the entire walk home and Alex could not handle it at all.

“So are we going to discuss what the heck is going on with you?”

Kara took a deep breath, then answered, “Not if you’re going to tell me what an awful person Lena Luthor is because you’ve just about ran that into the ground.”

Alex pressed her lips together and nodded her head, “So Lena’s got you all heart eyes, huh?”

“Yea, just a little bit.” She grinned at her sister and Alex bumped their shoulders

“What’s she like?”

Kara raised her eyebrows and Alex shrugged and Kara smiled even wider, “Oh gosh, she’s just so… Wow. I don’t know how to really say it any other way. She’s so wildly smart and she fills in the gaps where I can’t. She can keep up with me in forensics but when I need her help with the math or something she just fills in and it’s like nothing even happened. I can be completely myself around her and she isn’t afraid to be honest, which is like, so important.”

“So she’s a genius and a dork, perfect for you.”

“She’s also a huge dork, but in the most unusual way? She’ll only write with those G2 pens, but they have to be blue because supposedly blue helps you remember the notes you take down better.” Alex saw the look on Kara’s face, somewhere between a smile and an eyeroll, “She’s also a reptile person. She doesn’t mind cats and dogs, but she’d rather a snake, or a gecko. Those are direct quotes.”

“Oh god, she likes reptiles? I knew she was a cold blooded fiend.”

Kara rolled her eyes for real this time and then told her sister, “You’re lucky we’re at the house because if we had been walking any further I probably would have tackled you in the street.”

“Ow, violent much, sis?”

“You have no idea, Danvers.” Kara dropped her backpack in the entryway and immediately lunged for Alex.

The older girl jumped and ran around the other side of the couch, “You can’t call me that, we have the same last name it doesn’t make sense.”

“That sounds like loser speak?”

“Get fucked.”

Kara was too busy processing Alex’s language to see her sister hurdling over the couch towards her.

-~.~-

Kara rubbed her hair dry with a towel as she walked through the living room in her pajamas. Her mother was in the kitchen making a cup of tea when she saw her. 

“Kara! Sweetie! How was your day?” Eliza smiled warmly and Kara couldn’t help but grin back.

“It was good.” Kara couldn’t fight the blush that crept up her neck when she thought about just how good her day had been. She cleared her throat. “It was good, yea really good.”

Eliza took a sip from her mug, “I’m glad your day was good, Kara.” The two women stood together in silence for a moment before Eliza asked, “It wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain girl in your forensics class would it?”

Kara groaned, slumping into a chair at the kitchen table, “Not you too. Alex has effectively spewed my business to just about anybody who knows my name.”

“I only asked if it was about her, I’m not passing judgement.”

“At least somebody isn’t. I mean, Alex sort of came around today when she said that if I trust Lena then she does, but I don’t get it? People shouldn’t have to prove they aren’t like their family. Everyone should have inherent worth based on their own actions, and I certainly shouldn’t have to defend Lena like she’s some hapless maiden in need of rescuing.”

“So you really care about her?”

Nodding slowly, Kara answered, “Yea, a lot. It kinda scares me, to be honest. I’ve known her for a little more than a week and all I can think about is just being with her and learning every little thing that makes her laugh, or think really hard, or what her favorite kind of cookie is so I could bring her some as a surprise one day.”

“You’ve got it bad, kiddo.” Eliza just smirked at Kara and felt even more defeated,

“I know I do, but I don’t know anything about her really. Any time we try to get to know more about one another we sorta, get distracted.” Eliza raised her eyebrows and Kara shrugged. “I just wish there was a way for me to be her friend and do all the not friendly stuff without ruining the friendship.”

“This may be a bad thing to say, but you can do both. Sort of.” Kara gave Eliza a look, “You can get to know her as a friend and also be more than friends, Kara. The person you date should be one of your best friends. If you get to know her platonically while also navigating your romantic relationship, it might not be such a bad thing.”

They sat in silence once again, Eliza’s words hanging heavily. 

“I’m gonna head to bed. Thank you for the advice.”

Kara stood up and padded off back down the hallway.

-~.~-

“Jess?”

“Yea?”

“Is it a bad idea to want to be friends with someone but also want to kiss them till you can’t breathe?”

“I mean, were you friend’s first?”

“I sort of just met them. The friendship thing is developing alongside the kissing thing.”

The two girls slept in beds on opposite sides of the room. Lena loved having a roommate, having someone to talk to late at night so she wasn’t alone with her thoughts, and also having someone to tell her to go to sleep because her computer is too bright.

“Well, do you think you could be friends without the kissing?”

Lena thought of how wonderful and loving Kara was. Of course she’d be friends with her if they weren’t canoodling in the library during lunch. Or flirting in forensics. Or doing anything else that wasn’t explicitly platonic.

“I mean, definitely we could. But I’m drawn to them in a way that I’ve never experienced before. It just feels right to be near them and to hold their hands and know that they want me just as much as I want them, you know?”

“Dude, you’re so fucked.”

Jess laughed and Lena groaned, “I know, it’s probably the worst thing that’s happened to me at this school, and that’s saying a lot.”

“That’s a lie. But quick question, are you using they as a specific pronoun or are you using it to avoid using others?”

“I’ll never tell.”

They shared a laugh and when they quieted down, Jess spoke quietly, “You know you can tell me, right? If it’s a girl.”

Lena shook her head, “I wish I could.”

**Author's Note:**

> I dont know if anybody likes the songs that I'm putting in the notes, but I'll put it anyway in case its useful for some people, or you can just read the one line that I also post and then continue on with the story!


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